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zaire

1 American  
[zah-eer, zah-eer] / zɑˈɪər, ˈzɑ ɪər /

noun

  • zaire
    plural
  1. a paper money and monetary unit of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, equal to 100 makuta.


Zaire 2 American  
[zah-eer, zah-eer] / zɑˈɪər, ˈzɑ ɪər /
Or Zaïre

noun

  1. Republic of Zaire, a former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

  2. official name within the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the Congo River (the term Congo River is more widely used elsewhere).


Zaïre British  
/ zɑːˈɪə /

noun

  1. the former name (1971–97) of the Democratic Republic of Congo

  2. (formerly) the Zaïrian name (1971–97) for the (River) Congo

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Zaire Cultural  
  1. See Democratic Republic of Congo.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

A vessel took us to Cayenne, where we secured a passage on board one of the steamers of the French Transatlantic Aspinwall line, the Ville de St. Na- zaire, which conveyed us to Europe.

From The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne

But because Ebola strains like the Zaire variant were so lethal, they quickly ran out of new people to infect before they could move on to another area.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 6, 2026

This is because it uses the same platform as the only officially licenced Ebola vaccine Ervebo, which targets a different strain called Zaire.

From Barron's Jul. 30, 2026

Zaire, as DR Congo was then known, lost all three games - including 9-0 against Yugoslavia.

From BBC Jun. 28, 2026

Vaccines targeting Zaire ebolavirus have proven highly effective, and two antiviral treatments have reduced mortality rates from 50% to 35%.

From Science Daily Jun. 22, 2026

I pretended not to notice and went on to witchcraft, told him the Zaire leopard story.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

The limited testing that was available in the province was testing for the Zaïre strain and not coming up positive.

From BBC May 19, 2026

DR Congo - which is currently facing its 17th outbreak of Ebola - is more familiar with the Zaïre species.

From BBC May 19, 2026

THE BUILDUP: Foreman and Ali spent much of the middle of 1974 training in Zaïre, getting acclimated to its tropical climate.

From Washington Times Jun. 4, 2016

After a visit by Mobutu, Hassan announced that he would dispatch a contingent to Zaïre that would be "placed at the disposal of the Organization of African Unity along with other African forces."

From Time Magazine Archive

I thought that scene with Zaïre and her brother Néréstan very fine, and it suited me.

From My Double Life The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt by Sarah Bernhardt

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